(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a type of pillow comprised of a cover and an air cell cushion. The cover is designed to collapse to produce a more comfortable pillow for the user.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Various attempts have been made over the years to create a pillow that provides the utmost comfort and therapeutic care for the user. These pillows have sought to reduce or correct neck and back discomfort for a person while they sleep. Many pillows in the art use a variety of contours, shapes, and materials to produce a comfortable positioning device for the person's head. These contouring devices are designed to distribute the load of a person's body while in the reposing position to reduce muscle strain and tension along the head, neck, and shoulders region of the body.
In the simplest design, the pillow is an easily deformable cushion, providing moderate support for the user's head and neck. Generally, the cushion is made from materials such as foam, polyethylene chips, goose down, horse hair, or some other easily deformable material. However, the common characteristics of these pillows is that the pillows may be too soft and too easily deformable for some users. Often the user has to "fluff up" their pillow to build up its relative resiliency. Unfortunately, during the course of a night, this resiliency is decreased, causing the pillow to lose its support. It is at this time that the user may experience undue stress on certain parts of the body, resulting in general discomfort, which may transmit throughout the body. Pillow cases of the prior art were designed to cover and protect the pillow and did not provide any shape or support function.
Newer designs of pillow construction have employed resilient underlying base materials that enable the pillow to generally maintain its shape under load. In the past, pillows of this category have used common foam materials formed with successive crossing layers of grooves and risers to create softness yet support for the pillow. More recent designs use foam materials with a system of contours in the cushion to supply support for the user. In these pillows, the contours are designed to limit the amount of deformation while supplying support as the person's head is cradled or supported in the pillow. Generally, these contours are formed in the natural shape of the person's head, neck, and shoulder regions for supine positions so that an even distribution of pressure is applied to these areas of the body so as to reduce undue strain and other stresses along the musculature of the spine. Often these contoured designs also utilize a convoluted surface to selectively control the resiliency in an area of the pillow. However, as a person moves during sleep, the person's body becomes misaligned with the pre-set contour of the pillow. This sometimes creates discomfort for the user. Additionally, the materials used as the base materials for these pillows must have sufficient structure to allow it to be formed in a contoured or convoluted shape. This structure is often not sufficiently breathable so as to permit the removal of moisture and heat from the person's body as they sleep. Thus, for this reason also, the pillow sometimes results in discomfort of the individual.